The beautifully designed and carefully crafted home at 4586 Pebble Bay Circle presents a modest front to the street that belies the aesthetic and architectural richness within.
Fine details begin coming into focus as a visitor approaches the front porch, where a cypress beam held up by intricate cypress columns supports open rafters and a plank ceiling. The silvery cypress – a handsome, weather-resistant wood – is used lavishly around the exterior of the home for columns, beams, rafters and ceiling material.
Cypress headers over windows and doors, and stone floors throughout, help create a feeling of rustic elegance that is perfect for the quiet, waterside location.
Designed by island architect Clem Schaub, the 4-bedroom, 4.5-bath home is built around a peaceful central courtyard with a swimming pool and spa overlooked by a covered terrace. Most first-floor rooms open onto the terrace or courtyard and have views of the river, as well.
“You have a Clem Schaub island house thing going on here,” says Jeanine Harris, an estate agent with Premier Estate Properties, who co-listed the house with Broker Associate Kay Brown for $1,895,000. “There is always a cool breeze in this courtyard!”
The charming family home has 4,564 square feet of air-conditioned living space, with a total of 5,590 square feet under roof. The home is light and bright with glass French doors and casement window walls facing the river in the dining room, living room and first-floor master suite. Outdoor living space includes two riverfront patios, a new ipe wood dock and a lush back lawn, as well as the covered front porch, terrace and central courtyard.
Entry into the compound is via a cypress door that opens from the front porch onto the terrace, with the courtyard to the right. The porch, terrace and first floor of the house all have richly-textured noche marble flooring.
French doors lead from the terrace into the family room, kitchen, dining room and living room.
Each room is an event.
The marble-floored kitchen features a large center island with seating, a padded window seat with room for half a dozen guests, granite and limestone counters and a Thermador gas range with a hearth-like hood. Subway tile, custom white wood cabinetry and high-end stainless appliances are other attractive details.
The family room, with a built-in entertainment center and side patio for grilling, is to the left of the kitchen. Beyond the family room, in the front portion of this wing, are the laundry room, a powder room and an office.
Moving toward the back of the house from the kitchen, past the main staircase, one enters the spacious formal dining room, which overlooks the river and boat dock through a series of side-by-side casement windows with bottom lights that wrap around the northwest corner, flooding the room with natural light.
Next to the dining room, also facing the river, is a the large, bright living room with a beamed, vaulted wooden ceiling and three sets of cypress-trimmed French doors that open onto a coral-stone patio overlooking the water. Built-in shelves and more noche marble add to the room’s appeal.
Next comes the lavish master suite, with a small office, his and hers walk-in closets, and a master bath with soaking tub, walk-in double-head shower and two vanities. French doors lead from the bath to an outside shower and private walkway to the spa and swimming pool.
Harris says the owners, both of whom are doctors, often end a long day by heading straight out to spa for a relaxing soak after work.
The master bedroom has a vaulted wooden ceiling and French doors that lead out onto another coral-stone patio overlooking the lagoon.
Below the two back patios is the large L-sahped dock with built-in seating, a sunbathing area, a swimming platform, storage for kayaks and paddle boats and a boat lift.
“The dock is wonderful place to sit and watch the sunset,” says Harris.
The property has 109 lineal feet of water frontage with a depth of 4-5 feet, allowing owners to operate a large V-hull boat. Much of the nearby shoreline, green and picturesque, is preserve land in the keeping of the Indian River Land Trust and will never be developed.
Back inside, the main staircase that separates the dining room and kitchen is a work of art, with maple treads and risers and custom-made wrought iron railing. It leads up to landing from which short flights of steps ascend in two directions. The steps to the right lead to second-floor master suite; to the left is a long, well-lit hallway with a day bed built into the outside wall – a perfect place for reading – that leads to two guest or children’s rooms, both en suite. There is a Juliet balcony with views of the river at the top of the main staircase and Harris says the owner’s children favored it for private phone calls.
“I have taken a couple of master builders through the house and they say the craftsmanship is absolutely topnotch, throughout,” says Harris. “Everyone I have shown the house to has loved it.!”
Located in Pebble Bay Estates, the stylish, comfortable house is a short walk from the beach and a five minute drive from the Barber Bridge and the seaside shopping and dining district.